Category: Other Consumer Issues

Federal Antitrust trial over Anthem-Cigna merger begins

Today marked the first day of the federal trial over the proposed Anthem-Cigna merger which would create the nation’s largest health insurance company. Government antitrust lawyers are attempting to block this $48 billion deal which threatens to reshape the U.S. market for health coverage.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/11/21/antitrust-trial-over-aetna-cigna-merger-begins/94222422/

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Race continues to be a factor in St. Louis area mortgage lending

A report released by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that the racial composition of St. Louis neighborhoods is a defining trait for the probability of receiving a mortgage loan. Its report also examines how the lack of banking institutions in predominantly black neighborhoods perpetuates the problem.

http://m.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2016/07/19/black-st-louis-neighborhoods-cut-off-from-mortgage-lending-banks-report-finds

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2015 Alberta Slavin Consumer Award

Consumers Council of Missouri presented the 2015 Alberta Slavin Award to Senator Claire McCaskill for her efforts in the U.S. Senate to pass the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Rental Car Safety Act in the omnibus transportation bill that passed Congress in December and that President Obama signed into law.  The law prohibits nearly all rental car companies, including many car dealers, from renting, loaning or selling recalled vehicles until the safety defectsMcCaskill_Alberta_Slavin have been repaired.  Previously, federal law barred dealers from selling recalled new vehicles, but no similar law covered rentals.  The award is named for Alberta Slavin, who founded the Consumers Council and served as chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission.

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U.S. Senate Passes Rental Car Safety Bill

Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, July 30, 2015

Today the U.S. Senate voted to enact the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, as part of the DRIVE Act, which will provide long-term funding for transportation projects across the nation.

The rental car provision was the only part of the bill relating to safety that both sides of the aisle agreed on.  The Safe Rental Car Act (S 1173) was included in the bill that Senator John Thune (R-SD) proposed and was adopted unanimously in the Commerce Committee.  Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) played leading roles in championing the measure.

The Senate passed the larger bill on a vote of 65-34.  While the House still has to act, the strong bipartisan support bodes well for final passage.  The Obama Administration’s Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have requested that Congress give the agency the authority to police recalled rental cars and used cars.

The rental car safety portion of the bill was introduced as separate legisltaion, S 1173, named after Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, two sisters, aged 24 and 20, who were killed in 2004 in a recalled Chrysler PT Cruiser that caught fire and lost steering.  Since 2010, their mother, Cally Houck, has been working closely with Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) for passage of legislation to protect the public from unsafe recalled rental cars.  The rental car industry itself, including Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, and other major rental car companies, plus many smaller rental car companies (except Rent-a-Wreck) and the American Car Rental Association, have been actively supporting the bill, working with Cally and CARS for passage. However, the bill was stalled until now due to opposition from auto manufacturers and car dealers.

After Senate passage, Houck said, “”It’s heartening to see the act named for my beautiful, talented daughters pass with resounding bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. I’m optimistic that we will finally succeed in making it a violation of federal law for a rental car company to rent or sell a recalled car before it’s repaired and safe to drive.”

The legislation would make it a violation of federal law, enforceable by NHTSA, for rental car companies to rent or sell unrepaired recalled cars.  Once the companies receive the safety recall notice, they would have to ground them pending repairs.  The Senate bill would give NHTSA the authority to fine the rental car companies or invoke other sanctions if they violate the law — even if no one is injured or killed.  This new protection would be in addition to existing protections under other provisions of the law, including state laws that Cally and Raechel and Jackie’s father and their attorneys used to sue Chrysler and Enterprise.

“When consumers and families drive a rental car off the lot, they should be able to do so with the confidence that car is safe to drive. We’re one step closer to that peace of mind today,” McCaskill said in a story published by Bloomberg News on July 15 after the bill passed in the Commerce Committee.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Capps (D-CA), speaking on the House floor, called on Chrysler to stop opposing the rental car safety bill and join GM and Honda in supporting it.  Chrysler manufactured the defective PT Cruiser that killed the Houck sisters.  It has persistently opposed the legislation.

Capps is championing enactment of the House bill, HR 2198, that is identical to the Senate bill that was included in the larger transportation bill.  The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Walter Jones (R-NC) Jan and Schakowsky (D-IL).

The Senate rejected an attempt by the opponents of the rental car safety bill — many auto manufacturers and car dealers — to legalize rentals of recalled cars with “disclosure” — which would have undermined existing protections and shifted liability onto victims of unsafe recalled rental cars.

If passage of the legislation had not been delayed for years, due to opposition from the auto manufacturers and car dealers, it might have saved the life of Jewel Brangman,  26, who was killed in a fender bender on Sept. 7, 2014.  She was driving a recalled 2001 Honda Civic with a Takata air bag that exploded with excessive force and severed blood vessels in her neck.

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GM Faces Federal Probe Over Recalls

The Detroit News, July 23, 2015

General Motors Co. now faces an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, adding to a list of several authorities and agencies looking into the automaker’s conduct after its delayed ignition switch recall last year.

The automaker disclosed the investigation in a regulatory filing Thursday. It was unclear if GM or its dealers are the target, however.

GM said it was notified June 3 of the investigation by the FTC that concerned “certified pre-owned vehicle advertising where dealers had certified vehicles allegedly needing recall repairs.”

A GM spokesman declined to comment on the investigation beyond what was said in the regulatory filing. An FTC spokesman on Thursday confirmed the investigation, but declined further comment.

Last year, GM recalled 2.59 million older Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other small cars for faulty ignition switches that can turn off while driving, disabling air bags. The company initially tied the defect to 13 deaths, but an independent ignition switch compensation fund administrator has approved 124 death claims tied to the defect.

The automaker faces investigations by the Department of Justice, 50 state attorneys general, Transport Canada and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

GM could face criminal penalities tied to the Justice Department investigation. The automaker also could face a sizable fine.

GM also has been sued in 100 U.S. class action lawsuits and 21 in Canada for economic harm allegedly caused by recalls of vehicles, plus 172 federal/state lawsuits in the U.S. and nine in Canada alleging injury or deaths related to recalls, according to the filing.

“Such lawsuits and investigations could in the future result in the imposition of damages, substantial fines, civil lawsuits and criminal penalties, interruptions of business, modification of business practices, equitable remedies and other sanctions against us or our personnel as well as significant legal and other costs,” GM said in its quarterly earnings filing with the SEC.

The automaker says it does not have an estimate for the potential impact of the lawsuits or investigations it faces.

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McCaskill Adds Recalled Rental Car Bill to Committee’s Vehicle Safety Legislation

Bloomberg Business, July 16, 2015

A Senate panel killed a proposal to permit companies to continue renting vehicles that have been recalled, a measure criticized by consumer groups, automakers and even some rental-car companies.

The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee instead voted Wednesday to require cars be repaired before they’re rented.

The change resulted from an amendment by Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. It modified a bill, introduced last week by Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, that would have allowed rentals with known safety defects as long as companies disclosed the open recalls to customers.

“When consumers and families drive a rental car off the lot, they should be able to do so with the confidence that car is safe to drive, and we’re one step closer to that peace of mind today,” McCaskill said.

The panel approved the overall bill, which sets policy for automotive, trucking and rail regulators, on a party-line 13-11 vote. Democrats objected to the measure, saying it failed to include needed auto-safety provisions.

In the past week, Honda Motor Co. joined General Motors Co. as the second automaker to back the Democrats’ push for a ban on rentals with safety defects.

Consumer Protection

The American Car Rental Association, a trade group that includes Hertz Global Holdings Inc., Avis Budget Group Inc. and Enterprise Holdings, described the original Republican bill as a “significant step back in consumer protection” compared with current industry practices in a July 13 letter to committee leaders.

The National Automobile Dealers Association and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers aired objections about the Democrats’ proposal, saying it would have the unintended effect of harming consumers because dealerships would be forced to repair rental cars before their customers’ vehicles.

Thune said the overall bill would increase funding for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigations and double civil penalties for automakers to $70 million. Those changes would be directly tied to the agency adopting changes recommended by Transportation Department inspector general, he said.

“The bill before us today makes a host of important improvements when it comes to motor vehicle safety,” Thune said.

Jail Time

Democrats introduced an amendment that failed on a party-line vote to give NHTSA more funding and allow jail time for executives who hide auto-safety defects.

Some critics said the legislation failed to reflect safety lessons learned from faulty ignition switches in General Motors Co. vehicles and Takata Corp. air bags that exploded and killed motorists.

“This is a tragic and neglectful assault on consumer rights in favor of the auto and trucking industries,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “Sadly, the majority failed to learn the lessons of the GM ignition-switch cover up and Takata’s exploding air bags.”

The legislation approved by the panel would force the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to overhaul one of its primary enforcement tools, a publicly available listing of safety violations of trucking and bus companies, which compares individual firms with industry averages.

The agency would have to remove scores from public view while it responds to critiques from the Government Accountability Office and the Transportation Department’s inspector general. That change has been backed by the trucking industry.

For railroads, the measure would allow the Transportation Department to adjust deadlines for implementing crash-avoiding train technology on a case-by-case basis. Thune said the action was needed because few railroads were going to make the existing 2015 deadline. Installations would be delayed to no later than 2018.

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Blunt Asked to Support Safe Rental Car Act

Joplin Independent, July 13, 2015

ST. LOUIS, Mo – The Consumers Council of Missouri announced yesterday that it is calling upon Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, to co-sponsor legislation to bar rental car companies from renting or selling unsafe, recalled vehicles to the public until the safety defects have been repaired. A key vote over rental car safety is expected July 15, 2015, in the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.

Under pressure from auto manufacturers and car dealers, Congress has delayed acting to protect the public. Recently, Honda admitted that a faulty Takata air bag in a recalled Honda Civic rental car claimed the life of a 26-year-old woman when the air bag exploded with excessive force, sending shrapnel into her neck.

The bill, S. 1173, the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015, has been re-introduced for several years. It is named in memory of two sisters, ages 24 and 20, who were killed by an unrepaired, recalled rental car in 2004, near Santa Cruz, California. The Houck sisters were killed by a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser rented from Enterprise, based in St. Louis.

Subsequent to the settlement of a lawsuit by the Houck sisters’ parents, Enterprise responded to the outreach from consumer groups, including Consumers Council and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), and became an ally in actively advocating for passage of the Safe Rental Car Act.

As a majority member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Senator Blunt is in a position to play a key role in passage of the bill.

“How many more people have to die before Senator Blunt joins Enterprise, one of our state’s largest businesses, and consumer groups in protecting the public?” asked state Rep. Tracy McCreery, secretary-treasurer of Consumers Council’s Board of Directors. “He should be leading the way on common sense protection for consumers who rent cars.”

Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, many smaller rental companies and the American Car Rental Association have been working in concert to support the bill, asking to be regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition, last year General Motors changed its position and switched from opposing the bill to supporting it, after it was amended to clarify that it would not change existing law regarding manufacturer’s obligations to compensate rental car companies for lost revenue.

Meanwhile, all of the major rental car companies and their trade association have pledged to stop renting or selling recalled cars until they have been repaired. However, as the recent tragedy showed, federal legislation, enforceable by NHTSA, is needed to ensure that all rental cars are free from lethal safety defects that have led to a manufacturer’s safety recall. Last August, Jewel Brangman, age 26, rented a 2001 Honda Civic from a small rental car company in San Diego. On September 7, she was involved in a low-speed chain-reaction crash in Los Angeles. She should have been able to walk away from the crash, but the defective air bag exploded into her neck.

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Consumers to Senator Blunt: Save Lives, Lead Effort to Pass Rental Car Safety Bill

ST. LOUIS, Mo (July 10, 2015) – Consumers Council of Missouri is calling upon Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, to co-sponsor legislation to bar rental car companies from renting or selling unsafe, recalled vehicles to the public until the safety defects have been repaired.  A key vote over rental car safety is expected next Wednesday in the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

CCM is also asking Sen. Blunt to reject a bill being offered by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., that would allow rental-car companies to rent vehicles with unresolved dangerous defects as long as they disclose the defects in writing to the renter.  (Learn more by reading the following story.)

Under pressure from auto manufacturers and car dealers, Congress has delayed acting to protect the public.  Recently, Honda admitted that a faulty Takata air bag in a recalled Honda Civic rental car claimed the life of a 26-year-old woman when the air bag exploded with excessive force, sending shrapnel into her neck.

The pro-consumer bill, S. 1173, the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015, has been re-introduced for several years.  It is named in memory of two sisters, ages 24 and 20, who were killed by an unrepaired, recalled rental car in 2004, near Santa Cruz, California.  The Houck sisters were killed by a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser rented from Enterprise, based in St. Louis.

Subsequent to the settlement of a lawsuit by the Houck sisters’ parents, Enterprise responded to the outreach from consumer groups, including Consumers Council and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), and became an ally in actively advocating for passage of the Safe Rental Car Act.

As a majority member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Blunt is in a position to play a key role in passage of the bill.

“How many more people have to die before Senator Blunt joins Enterprise, one of our state’s largest businesses, and consumer groups in protecting the public?” asked state Rep. Tracy McCreery, secretary-treasurer of Consumers Council’s Board of Directors.  “He should be leading the way on common sense protection for consumers who rent cars.”

Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, many smaller rental companies and the American Car Rental Association have been working in concert to support the bill, asking to be regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  In addition, last year General Motors changed its position and switched from opposing the bill to supporting it, after it was amended to clarify that it would not change existing law regarding manufacturer’s obligations to compensate rental car companies for lost revenue.

Meanwhile, all of the major rental car companies and their trade association have pledged to stop renting or selling recalled cars until they have been repaired.  However, as the recent tragedy showed, federal legislation, enforceable by NHTSA, is needed to ensure that all rental cars are free from lethal safety defects that have led to a manufacturer’s safety recall.  Last August, Jewel Brangman, age 26, rented a 2001 Honda Civic from a small rental car company in San Diego.  On September 7, she was involved in a low-speed chain-reaction crash in Los Angeles.  She should have been able to walk away from the crash, but the defective air bag exploded into her neck.

Below is the letter Consumers Council sent to Sen. Blunt on Tuesday, July 7.

Dear Senator Blunt,

Consumers Council of Missouri is writing to strongly urge you to co-sponsor S. 1173, the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015, which would prohibit rental car companies from renting or selling unsafe, recalled vehicles to the public until the safety defects have been repaired.  Under federal law, car dealers may not legally sell recalled new cars with lethal safety defects.  That has been the law since the 1960s.  But no similar federal law protects people who rent cars. 

As you are aware, the bill has been re-introduced for several years.  It is named in memory of two sisters, ages 24 and 20, who were killed by an unrepaired, recalled rental car in 2004, near Santa Cruz, California.  This preventable tragedy propelled Cally Houck, the mother of the two young women, to vigorously pursue passage of the bill so other families won’t have to suffer the unspeakably sad loss of loved ones in dangerous vehicles.

Passage of this common sense legislation is long overdue.  Congress’s failure to act, to protect people who rent cars, has resulted in yet another preventable death in a recalled rental car.  Last August, Jewel Brangman, age 26, rented a 2001 Honda Civic from a small rental car company in San Diego.  On September 7, she was involved in a low-speed chain-reaction crash in Los Angeles.  She should have been able to walk away from the crash.  However, the car was equipped with a defective Takata air bag that exploded with excessive force, spewing metal fragments that severed her carotid artery, causing her death.

That car was being recalled by Honda, and Honda had issued a recall notice months before the fatal crash.  However, the rental car company chose to ignore the recall notice – with fatal results.  Had the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act been in effect, making it a federal offense for the rental car company to rent out that car before the safety recall was performed, Jewel Brangman might still be alive today.  Recently, in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, Honda expressed “everlasting regret” over this horrendous loss, but it stopped short of actually supporting the bill.  That is totally unacceptable.

We hope that you will soon sign on as a co-sponsor and will advocate actively for passage of this important auto safety legislation.  As a member of the majority on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation you can play a significant roll in the passage of this legislation.   

Again, as you are aware, the Houck sisters were killed in a car rented from Enterprise.  Consumers Council of Missouri (CCM) became involved in this effort by working with other consumer and safety organizations – primarily Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) – because Enterprise is based in St. Louis.  We wanted the company to know that Missourians care profoundly about driving safe cars. 

In 2012, we delivered a petition to Enterprise’s headquarters signed by more than 162,000 people supporting our efforts.  In addition, a statewide poll conducted in Missouri revealed that 86 percent of Missourians favor prohibiting rental car companies from renting recalled vehicles that have not been repaired.   

Enterprise responded to the outreach from consumer groups and others and has become an ally.  It is actively advocating for passage of the bill.  Enterprise joins Hertz, Avis, many smaller rental companies and the American Car Rental Association in working for the bill.  In addition, last year General Motors switched from opposing the bill to supporting it.  It made that decision after the bill was amended to clarify that it would not in any way change existing law regarding rental car companies’ ability to obtain restitution for lost income when they ground unsafe cars.

We thank you for your consideration.  We look forward to your prompt and favorable response.

Regards,

Joan Bray, Executive Director, Consumers Council of Missouri

Click here to send your own message to Sen. Roy Blunt.

Ask him to co-sponsor S. 1173 and make sure it is part of vehicle safety legislation in the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday, July 15.

Learn more about this issues at moconsumers.organd/or carconsumers.org.

 

Below is an article published by Bloomberg Business about the bill proposed by opponents of rental car safety for consumers.

Measure to Permit More Rental Cars Under Recall Draws Fire 

July 9, 2015 — 9:55 PM SAST Updated on July 10, 2015 — 4:16 AM SAST

A U.S. Senate panel unveiled a plan to roll back protections consumers get when renting cars with potentially lethal safety defects, an approach a safety advocate called a step backward.

Under a bill introduced Thursday by Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who is chairman of the Commerce Committee, rental-car companies would be able to offer vehicles with unresolved flaws as long as they disclose the defects in writing to the renter.

Consumer groups have pushed for laws to prevent rental of defective cars. Legislation such as the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act was considered by the Senate committee as recently as 2013 but never became law. The panel this year switched to Republican control.

“This is going backward,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a safety group based in Sacramento, California. “This would be worse than existing practices for 95 percent of the industry.”

The Senate Commerce plan could cause car-rental companies such as Hertz Global Holdings Inc., Avis Budget Group Inc. and Enterprise Holdings to drop policies they adopted calling for the completion of all recall repairs before renting vehicles, Shahan said. Other companies wouldn’t have an incentive to adopt such policies, she said.

Because most companies don’t rent cars under recall and there are some state prohibitions already in place, the bill won’t roll back any current consumer protections, Commerce Committee spokesman Frederick Hill said in a an e-mailed statement. It wouldn’t preempt stronger state laws or stricter policies rental-car companies already have in place, he said.

“This provision would establish a new pro-consumer requirement that the recall status of a vehicle must be disclosed before renting,” Hill said.

The National Automobile Dealers Association is studying Thune’s legislation, said Jared Allen, a spokesman for the McLean, Virginia-based group.

The group in 2013 had concerns about the attempt to ban rentals of all recalled cars, he said. The dealers had been working with Senator Charles Schumer, the bill’s sponsor, on changes that would mitigate the economic impact on consumers and small businesses, Allen said.

In a May 2013 hearing, NADA argued that less than 10 percent of recalls sought by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were deemed serious enough to recommend that consumers stop driving until their cars are repaired.

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers cited the possibility that rental-car companies could seek damages from automakers over delays in getting recall parts.

Alliance Chief Executive Officer Mitch Bainwol, who lobbies on behalf of General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and 10 other automakers, said at the 2013 hearing legislation to stop renting defective cars would be harmful to consumers because dealerships would repair the rental cars before their customers’ vehicles.

The Houcks — Raechel, 24, and Jacqueline, 20 — died in a 2004 crash involving a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser. The car had been subject to recall for a defective power-steering hose that hadn’t been repaired. The women lost control after the hose caught fire and the car collided with a tractor-trailer.

“The promise of life my talented daughters held was snuffed out in a matter of seconds,” Cally Houck, the women’s mother, told the commerce committee in 2013. “Why didn’t the rental car company fix this defect before renting out a vehicle that was a ticking time bomb?”

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CCM Aids National Campaign for Consumer Safety in Rental, Used Cars

CCM has been working closely with a national group, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS), urging St. Louis’s Enterprise Leasing to stop fighting a federal bill to prevent rental car companies from renting recalled cars until they are repaired.  Now we learn the problem extends to used cars on dealers’ lots – in St. Louis!

New: Unrepaired Recalled Cars for Sale on Used Car Lots – in St. Louis!

NBC’s Today Show recently went undercover and found auto dealers lying about the safety of the cars they are selling – in St. Louis!  In a hidden-camera investigation, NBC’s reporter discovered some dealers are selling cars that may have dangerous safety flaws.

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/51080700

The cars have been recalled by manufacturers for safety defects, but the used car dealers have failed to repair them.  40 million American consumers bought used cars last year.   Watch this video to learn a key questions to ask to avoid killer cars.

The good news is that Enterprise Leasing heeded consumers’ persuasive message and now supports the legislation, which will be re-introduced soon in the U.S. Congress.

For more information on the campaign to require repair of recalled vehicles before they are rented or sold, go to www.carconsumers.org.

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Op Ed: Bipartisan Bill Protecting Ticket Buyers Should Be Welcome in Missouri

Columbia Daily Tribune, April 26, 2015

By Carl Bearden and Tracy McCreery

From very different perspectives, we — a former Republican state representative and current director of United for Missouri, and a Democratic state representative and board member of Consumers Council of Missouri — share a concern over practices in the live event ticketing industry that affect thousands of sports and entertainment fans in Missouri: restricted ticketing.

Restricted ticketing, dubbed “credit card entry” tickets by Ticketmaster and its business partners in the music and sports industries, replaces traditional tickets by requiring the ticket buyer to present the purchasing credit card and matching photo ID to enter an event. This causes alarm for consumers on both sides of the political aisle.

When a ticket is tied to an individual’s credit card, it is nontransferable. This is where the trouble begins for fans.

Imagine you cannot attend an event as originally planned. Plans change: You get sick, you have to work or your babysitter cancels. When your tickets are nontransferable, you cannot resell them or give them away. You are stuck eating the entire cost of the ticket. Sports fans with season tickets who sell a few tickets to recoup some of the cost of the ticket package are simply out of luck.

In addition, requiring the use of a credit or debit card to buy a ticket discriminates against the thousands of Missourians who do not have a card. Even if only the best seats in the house are restricted, is it fair that Missouri taxpayers who helped fund the arenas and stadiums but do not have a credit or debit card are relegated to the cheap seats?

This policy is completely at odds with both of our ideals. Whether you look at this as a free-market issue, a property rights issue or a consumer choice issue, the effect is the same: huge corporations using their market power to limit the rights of fans, competitors and small businesses.

When you buy a ticket, you own it. Ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster or the artists, sports teams and venues they work with should not be able to control what you do with your tickets after you buy them.

This is why Missouri needs House Bill 939.

HB 939 ensures that you always have the choice of buying a ticket you can transfer whenever and however you want.

New York State passed similar legislation five years ago. Contrary to what billionaire team owners and millionaire artists claim, no team has packed up and left New York because it cannot use restricted ticketing. And no artists, save Yusuf Islam (also known as Cat Stevens), have opted out of playing New York. And not just New York City. A-list performers such as Garth Brooks continue to play smaller markets in Upstate New York such as Buffalo.

Ticketmaster, and the artists and teams it does business with, claims restricted ticketing is a benign effort to limit scalping. However, they are all heavily involved in, and profit from, the resale market. Ticketmaster owns and operates several resale websites, and every major sports league partners with secondary websites to increase revenue. Even recording artists such as Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Kid Rock have been caught, or admitted to, scalping their own tickets. This raises concerns over whether the motives of the opponents to the bill are to stop scalping or to make sure they are the only ones who can profit from it.

Without HB 939, we fear the situation will only get worse. Concentrating more control over tickets in the hands of the artists, teams and ticket sellers who already control the market will result in even less competition among ticket sellers. That means fewer choices and higher prices for fans.

Carl Bearden is executive director of United for Missouri. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, represents the 88th District in the Missouri House.

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